Biden is someone I stopped taking seriously early on in the debates, because he didn't seem to be taking it seriously enough. He had an ungodly habit of ending his answers by going, "Eehh!" and waving off the camera/moderator, as though he were a senile old man lazily signaling for his grandchildren to stop bothering him with their drivel. Yeah he had no chance, but wake up, you're on TV!

I think Biden is a great choice for Obama. DoublePlusGood because it puts Delaware in play.

Biden writes: "Love the pic at the link! I'm looking... kind of Obamaesque. The sunglasses say: It will be Biden! Okay with me. I like seeing my home state of Delaware get some attention. But if it's me, I am going to lose a bet that I made a long time ago."

Wow. It's actually quite impressive, because if that's the pick, Obama will have succeeded in making the ticket even more loathsome and repugnant than even I could imagine. Biden, let it not be forgotten, manages the not unimpressive feat of holding Chuck Schumer at bay for the "worst person in the Senate" and his performance at the Roberts and Alito hearings was staggeringly egotistical and banal.

I suppose it adds symmetry to the ticket, though. Biden, like Obama, claims to teach law, and tacitly expects people to assume this makes him erudite. Yet still manages to come over as smugly ignorant of even basic precepts of conlaw.

If Biden's the pick, that's enough to make me give not only money but time to McCain.

TitusThatsEntertainment said..."Who cares? No matter who he picks you people will hate him/her."

Not true. I think Sam Nunn, whose name's been floated often, is a respectable choice. I respect Hillary, although she's unlikely to be the choice. There are many people who could pick who are respectable, and several who are not. Biden falls beyond even the latter group, however. He falls into the group of people who ought to be involuntarily retired to the private sector and ignored for all eternity.

If it ends up being Biden, then some of you will have to end up lifting off the floor as I laugh my way to the voting booth. Or watching as the dour and angry leftists and liberals grumble their way to a polling station while gnashing teeth and flagellating themselves into a puree.

Hopefully, he doesn't pick Governor Kaine, who may be the most mean-spirited governor in the country if his MTP comments are indicative of his beliefs.

David, I'm not running, so I'm not going to make a case for myself. But let me tell you what that shows, is that Karl Rove doesn't know much about Virginia. Virginia's been named the best state in America for business the last three years. Now maybe to Karl Rove and the Republicans, business climate doesn't make a difference. That would explain a lot about the last eight years. Governing magazine just said we are the top performing state government in America. Maybe to Karl Rove and his friends, government performance, competent administration, being able to respond to an emergency isn't important. To Virginians it's important. Education Week in 2007 said we are the best state in America for a child to be raised if a child wants to have a successful life. Again, to Karl Rove, that may not be an accomplishment, maybe children's futures aren't that important. We have a very solid state that cares about results and because of that, this race is in play and people are embracing Senator Obama's message.

Biden, is supposedly a foreign policy genius but he was against the first Iraq (which is considered a great success), for the current war (which, currently is not considered a success), and was for partitioning Iraq and against the surge. So Biden is probably 0-3.

He still embellishes quite a bit and his big debate scoring point against Giuliani was out of left field and obviously it was a canned line he had in advance.

I do give Biden an A for PR because anyone with his record and lack of accomplishments who is so often praised is doing something right in that department.

It is odd, Obama has a great group to choose from and by most accounts and if focusing on three (Biden, Kaine, and Bayh) who stink.

Oh, Ann, I do so hope you're right. An Obama-Biden ticket would be a delirious dream come true: Captain WishyWashy and Lieutenant LooneyTunes. There just wouldn't enough late night monologues to do justice to that duo.

I too think that Biden is an awful choice, but in fairness, it really won't matter much in a few weeks. VP choices are endlessly debated in the dog days of summer, then ignored ever after.

Now Pallin would be a great choice as PRESIDENT (2012 too early?), but I really don't see the point of her as a VP right now. Even so, if McCain were going to pull that trigger, waiting till AFTER Obama and the Olympics are over (and the news cycle is hungry for more raw material) might be a very clever move.

Ok, I have been watching too many episodes of the Sopranos, but here I go anyway - Biden is a fucking douchebag. He is as phony as that cornrow of hairplugs where his hairline used to be - does he really think he's fooling anyone with that abomination? You are bald, you old, pale "Senator". Accept it, move on. Or call Silvio Dante and see if he can borrow his wig. He's not using it any longer. It looks just as honest and nonplaguarized as that current 'do.

I wish site designers would write their CSS so one division doesn't overlay and block another resulting in half of the comments being partially covered.

*clang*

Geni says, "No."

"But. But. But."

"Oh just copy/paste into a new document if you must read the comments, and shut up. Or B-click and read the source"

Grrrrrrr.

All your comments up there ^^^ about VP picks make me adore you. It's why I like to check in here so often.

Aviators. I grew up surrounded by them. We always had dozens laying around. OK FINE! Three or four. Everyone dear ol' Dad worked with, when he worked, wore them. It's not for nuth'n they're called aviators. Which is odd, because they're hardly the best sunglasses for pilots.

Not Biden. Biden is one of the 12 Senators even more liberal than Obama, according to the Americans for Democratic Action. Obama needs a centrist VP.

Instead of going by meaningless rankings (meaningless because there's no clear standard for what counts as "liberal" or "conservative," and because they can only be based on the issues that happened to be before Congress), why not say which issues you think he's too liberal on? What positions of his don't you like?

Biden, is supposedly a foreign policy genius but he was against the first Iraq (which is considered a great success), for the current war (which, currently is not considered a success), and was for partitioning Iraq and against the surge. So Biden is probably 0-3.

I agree about the two Iraq wars, but remember that Obama has to pick exactly one person. The question is whether Biden is better than the other choices, not whether Biden is perfect. If Obama is going to exclude every Democrat who was against the Gulf war and for the Iraq war, he's going to be excluding an awful lot of Democrats! As for partitioning Iraq, it's a little weird to judge that a failure since it was never tried.

Can anybody defend the proposition that Biden is a foreigh policy genius?

"In the fall of 2002, he tried, with Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar, to pass a more modest war resolution that put additional constraints on Bush. Then-House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt short-circuited the effort by cutting a deal with the president."

I'm not saying that counts as "genius" -- again, I don't even know how you'd prove that. But most people probably think additional constraints on Bush in going to war with Iraq would have been a good thing.

Methadras said... "The private sector to a moron like Biden is like holy water to a vampire."

You think that diminishes my desire to throw him into the private sector?

Paddy O. said... "McCain picking Palin will be a big impact no matter when he announces...."

If Obama picks Granholm or Sebelius and announces it first, McCain's choice will be spun as derivative and pandering. If he goes right now, and picks a smart, qualified, self-starting woman as his veep, he has a shot at benefiting from the anger over Hillary's treatment.

Scott said... "Now Pallin would be a great choice as PRESIDENT (2012 too early?), but I really don't see the point of her as a VP right now."

I'm tempted to agree, and until recently I did agree, but I just can't. Someone has to be the VP, none of the possible contenders are problem-free, and of all the potentials, I think she brings best drag:thrust ratio to the ticket.

I like Biden. He's a smart choice and will be a great attack dog for the next three months. Ha ha he will drive all of you crazy. Remember his great line about Giuliani "a noun a verb and 9/11!" He's a straight shooter and has the experience that Obama doesn't.

Zachary Paul Sire said... "Remember his great line about Giuliani 'a noun a verb and 9/11!'"

Credit where it's due, that was a terrific line, and possibly the funniest joke of the season.

"He's a straight shooter..."

He's a liar, an oaf, and a self-absorbedpompous prick. He's the kind of jackass that makes one wish legislators were impeachable, and the idea of him as vice-president would be a national humiliation. It would be a travesty that can't be allowed.

But seriously, though, this is a good choice for Obama, but I have to wonder why Biden instead of Bayh, if a Senator with foreign policy experience is the best choice. The reasons I can think of are (i) Bayh was too close to Hillary [which I think is a bad reason for Obama to not pick him]; (ii) Obama's polling shows Bayh wouldn't help him much in Indiana, thus eliminating the Electoral College rationale for Bayh; or (iii) Obama wants someone with a more spontaneous persona than him, who can act as more of an attack dog than Bayh might have.

Also, I wonder if this is signaling that Obama wants to make the courts more of a front-burner issue for his campaign, because Biden is more of a strong advocate on that issue than the other choices might have been. Either way, I guess we'll find out soon enough.

j-a-c: it's not what I like or don't like about Biden. A candidate who's been painted as the most liberal member of the Senate should pick a running mate whose views better reflect the majority of voters'.

Palin would be a great VP for Obama. Just because I want to see them do each other.

Is anybody going to change his mind based on this?

Simon Dodd. If Biden is VP, he will be manning the phones down at the old folks home, I mean, John McCain's campaign HQ.

Can anybody defend the proposition that Biden is a foreigh policy genius?

I can, but I do not feel like it. That McCain Brokeback thread wore me out today.

If Obama picks Granholm or Sebelius and announces it first,

Can't be Granholm.

What is so wrong with Kaine?

I would like to see Nunn, personally, but that will set the gays on fire. They will be flaming mad, because he's Mr. Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The last thing Obama needs is the gay lobby bitchslapping him around in battelground states and forcing him to make public concessions and campaign against Prop.8 extensively. Though I really do like Nunn as a choice. Jack Reed works, too, but he guarantees no state.

So Mr Hope and Change Hoped and Changed so much that he might pick a completely inside-the-Beltway career politician as his running mate? Politics as usual, that's STASIS YOU CAN BELIEVE IN!

Yes! He must only not pick an insider beltway politician, he MUST not even pick a politician at all! When Obama says he wants to offer change from one of the least like presidents ever, the only way to truly keep his word with his VP choice is to pick a plumber, for a change!

I share your sentiments regarding McCain, but he is the guy we are stuck with at this time. Out of the four candidates that I took seriously, he was my last choice, but he has the exceptional advantage of NOT being Obama, so for the time being, I must support him.

Gov Palin, on the other hand, will be a fine positive choice when her time comes, but this is not yet that time. Give her a few years, and she will be the sort of person Hillary! claims she is, a female candidate for President who is up to the job.

"Yes! He must only not pick an insider beltway politician, he MUST not even pick a politician at all! When Obama says he wants to offer change from one of the least like presidents ever, the only way to truly keep his word with his VP choice is to pick a plumber, for a change!

I see your strawman and raise you one."

You're just bitter because there's no way that Obama would ever want to pick that tiresome twat that you used to support.

Not really in FL, Richardson doesn't. Cubans tend to dislike Mexicans, not to mention Mexican Democrats.

(I remember the unfortunate incident when President Clinton mentioned Cesar Chavez in glowing terms to a crowd of Cuban-Americans, not realising he's the last person on earth whose politics and mission they reflect)

Plus two minorities on one ticket, without one of them being called "Hillary Clinton"? I just don't think it's going to happen. Yet.

I can't understand how Kaine could possibly help him. His inability to guide any worthwhile transportation legislation is an example that he is a lightweight. He called a special session of the legislature without even a framework of an agreement and the whole thing was a fiasco. Mark Warner on the other hand, who will not be interested because of his senate bid which will be successful would gain votes. Most of the folks in Virginia respect him and the Dems really like him. Kaine has little respect and his own party support is luke warm. He would be "above his pay grade" as VP and certainly is not qualified to be president.

Biden was probably the most qualified in this year's Democratic field. But his version of the Straight Talk Express could be a trainwreck waiting to happen. Picking him makes sense for Obama in some ways, but it's also a huge risk.

Biden fills two of Obama's three major needs in a running mate. Maybe. He's definitely got experience. He may be credited with seasoning on national security issues, at least by some voters. But he isn't from the South, where Obama could really use some help.

I am so ungodly sick and tired of hearing all the allegedly solid "buzz" about Obama's VP pick. Seriously now, who the hell cares?

It matters for McCain because let's face it, there's a decent chance the guy will croak during his first term of office. But Obama's young and healthy, cigarette habit notwithstanding. So long as he doesn't pick a complete dolt I'm not going to waste any time worrying about it.

What Rev ssaid--this is just the dog days/no news days of August with the press having nothing to do but navel gaze. Unless the VP nominees has been boinking camels in the safeway parking lot at noon, the VP pick becomes a non-issue after the conventions.

You have got to be kidding me. Sure, she's young, but unlike the flamboyantly-junior senator from Illinois, she does have some actual accomplishments, the recently-negotiated pipeline deal with Canada being merely the most recent of them.

Perhaps you meant she's the "Bobby Jindal of the GOP". Oh, wait--Jindal is the "Jindal of the GOP". Hmmm, maybe she'll just have to be herself, then.

Simon said... He's a liar, an oaf, and a self-absorbed pompous prick. He's the kind of jackass that makes one wish legislators were impeachable, and the idea of him as vice-president would be a national humiliation. It would be a travesty that can't be allowed.

I thought being a liar, an oaf, and a self absorbed prick was a major qualification to be a member of the Democratic Party.

vbspurs said... If Romney looked like the overly tanned tennis pro at the country club, Biden looks like a weasely used car salesman.

And nothing is lower than a “weasely used car salesman”.

garage mahal said... …the only way to truly keep his word with his VP choice is to pick a plumber, for a change!

I would vote for the plumber. We need more real people in DC, instead of the career intellectual idiot poltroons we have been electing. Give me the plumber, carpenter, farmer, factory worker; anyone who has actually worked for a living. I would vote for them in a heart beat.

EnigmatiCore said... "Plus two minorities on one ticket, without one of them being called "Hillary Clinton"?"